The Unwanted Imprint

Chapter 22

Once Abasi felt that he had drank sufficiently enough from Nichole, he threw her limp body to the ground and walked away. His friends released Benjamin and Amun, and Amun dashed over to Nichole's side, picking her up into his arms. "She's still alive, but just barely. She is going to turn, so that means we need to prepare."

Benjamin nodded and he ran into the house. Amun sighed softly as he carried Nichole into the house, he knew that Carlisle wasn't going to be happy about it in the least bit.

And Amun was right. As soon as Carlisle had found out what happened, he took a plane to Cairo. "I sent her here so that this very thing wouldn't happen!" He shouted at Amun. And Amun let him shout, he had every right to. "I am so sorry Carlisle, I never thought that Abasi would do something like this. But you need to come here, there is something quite odd happening with your daughter."

Amun led Carlisle into the bedroom. "Tell me what you see."

"I see my daughter turning into a vampire!"

"But she is not turning, Carlisle. Look."

And when Carlisle did look, he saw what Amun was talking about. Color was returning to Nichole's face. She was unconscious, but she was very clearly not turning into a vampire. "I...I don't understand."

"That makes two of us. I called a friend of mine, she's dealt with things like this. She is a shaman, and I think that she is the only one that can tell us what is going on. Carlisle...I truly am sorry. Abasi and his friends, they had the house surrounded, Nichole had a plan that she thought would work, Tia...she tried to stop her, but your daughter is very stubborn."

"I should not have snapped at you, I'm sure that you tried to do everything in your power to keep her safe. You're right though about her being stubborn, when Nichole puts her mind to something, then there's nothing on earth or in hell that can stop her. Trust me, I've tried."

An hour later, the shaman woman arrived. "Where is the girl?"

"This way." Amun led the woman into Nichole's bedroom. "She was bitten last night, but she has not turned yet, or has even begun the process."

"Strange. I think that I know what is going on, but it has only happened one time before. What do we know about Nichole's real parents?"

"Her father is dead." Carlisle stated. "We don't know much about her mother, she died when Nichole was young."

"Here is what I think happened? I believe that Nichole's mother may have been a hunter of vampires. Now, some hunters also possess a certain branch of magic, magic that is very rare. If what I think happened is true, then I would suggest finding the vampire that bit her."

"Oh trust me, I will," Carlisle said. He had every intention of finding the vampire that had bit Nichole and making him pay.

"And when you do find him, he will most likely be dead."

Well, that definitely took Carlisle by surprise. "What?"

"If I am right, then you will find him dead. I believe that Nichole's mother performed magic on her. A blessing to Nichole, but a curse to any vampire that would bite her." The shaman placed a hand on Nichole's head, closing her eyes for a moment. "As I had suspected. Abasi is most likely dead by now. What this magic does is that it protects Nichole, keeps her from turning. It affects her blood. Makes it like poison to a vampire. A vampire wouldn't be able to tell from the taste. Nichole has a venom of her own running through her veins. It would eat a vampire from the inside out. Now, that isn't to say that she wouldn't be able to die. If he had sucked enough blood from her, then she would die of blood loss, but it would seem that she got lucky in that regard. If you find Abasi, you may not even be able to recognize him."

Carlisle exchanged a look with Amun. This was something that he had never even heard about before, and he had heard about and experienced a lot of things in his long life. "What do you mean?"

"As I said before, the poison eats a vampire from the inside out, it is a disease. At most the most you will find is bones, and if you wait too long, then you might not even find that. All you will find is a pile of ash."

"but he is dead?"

"If he is not, then he will be very soon."

"Then I don't think that we're going to have to worry about him. How much longer until Nichole wakes up?"

The shaman shook her head. "It is hard to tell, it all depends on how much blood was taken from her. At most, a week, but I can do some things to speed up the process a bit."

"Could you? I want to take her home as quickly as I possibly can."

"What happens if any of Abasi's friends find out about this?" Amun asked. "They will come looking for revenge."

"Tell them that she died." Carlisle said. "She died and I came to retrieve her so that she could have a proper burial." He ran a hand through his hair. "Esme is not going to like this when I tell her about it." He murmured. Esme was very protective of Nichole, and Amun knew that it wasn't Carlisle he should have been worried about, but Carlisle's wife. "I am surprised that she didn't come with you."

"She wanted to, but I insisted that she stayed home." Carlisle sat down by Nichole's bed, pushing some hair out of her face. Everything that the shaman had said was too fantastical to be true. But Carlisle, at the moment, didn't care about what was true or not, the only thing that he cared about was his youngest daughter and that she would come out of this safe and alive.